Sheana
The strong, matriarchal race of warrior women who live around the outskirts of the Er’ac’sen desert are a culture wracked by many wars. They are fierce warriors with magical golden tattoos upon their skin who distrust any outsiders to their society. More than any others, they distrust the Noxcess, after a long war with them in the Second Era that the Noxcess have never repaid them for. There is a myth among lands unfamiliar with the race that the Sheana are a race of all women, much as the Noxcess are nearly all men, but this is very untrue. In reality, they merely have a very low number of males, at around 10 females per every male. These males, though not treated poorly, are seen as something of a weaker gender, and as such cannot attain political or military positions. As males are in such short supply however, it is uncommon for a man to have only one lover. In fact, Sheana tend to consider it a cultural taboo to not share one’s man with several other women in a women-led Harem of sorts. For these reasons, it is quite common for a relationship to be found between two Sheana women, especially within a Harem. Sheana History First Era (before year 0) The Sheana once lived in a dense jungle, but when the Phoenix crashed into Haven the Sheana survived only because of an ancient and magical technique which is seen commonplace on Sheana today, their protective golden tattoos. As the Jungle became Sand, the tattoos of the Sheana gave them enough protection to escape to the outer edges of the desert, where six sisters of the Sheana broke off with their respective husbands and started their own villages along the border of the desert. Second Era (0-1499 P.E.) The six sisters remained level-headed and calm as the Uragma spiraled further and further into what seemed to be a fanaticism that the Sheana wanted no part of. Others joined them as their now ashen-skinned cousins wandered ever further into the sands, hoping to find some stability and respite from the unforgiving landscape and all were welcome, but the sisters would not allow the calamity that had befallen the Uragma to happen with their people. To ensure their continued existence each of the six sisters entrusted their eldest daughter with the leading of their village, instilling in them the matriarchal structure that would carry on in their legacy, the caring image of the Six Sisters becoming a proud symbol of the people. Though when the Noxcess arose they treated them with respect, bringing much gold to trade with the Sheana, the strange obsession the palefolk had with reproducing caused strain to form between their races. This was stretched further by the Noxcess beginning to charge for the Water they dug for in their extensive network of Wells.''' * '''The War of Water (1376-1400 P.E.) - The Sheana had enough of paying for water in trade with the Noxcess, particularly Clans Pera and Uroc. They worked together to begin taking the water their people needed to survive in secret from the Wells, though they did not realize quite how many eyes there were in the dark, or quite how noticeable light was underground… The Noxcess quickly learned of this and responded in the form that seemed most logical to them: As they were immune to poisons, they poisoned their own water so that when the Sheana stole it, it would poison the thieves. What they did not count on was the Sheana not testing it and instead bringing it home and giving it to their Clans, which led to a mass death of elderly and children. The Sheana were enraged by this and declared war upon the Noxcess, the other Clans of Sheana coming to their sisters' aid. Due to the Sheana using their golems and magical tattoo armour, the Noxcess's sheer numbers, and both of their resilience gifted by the Phoenix, the war lasted (though there were temporary armistices) for over 2 decades until a ceasefire was eventually called. Third Era (1500-2019 P.E.) The Sheana were a thriving people, each of the six clans developing their own unique identities over many years. They came to almost religiously paint the golden tattoos that protected them when the Phoenix fell on nearly every Sheana. It was around the dawn of the Third Era that tensions began to rise between Clan Jackrabbit and the Fairfolk Empire, with Empress Brea’s expansionist policies beginning to push in towards Jackrabbit territory. Other Sheana Clans were still struggling to trust the Noxcess again after the War of Water, but needed to in order to get gold and water, both essential to their way of life. * The Age of Hate (aka the Faebane Conflict) (1838-2019) - Empress Brea marched her forces into Jackrabbit territory, to which they responded with what they saw as necessary hostility. The invading force were shocked with the power of these desert warriors, having never faced them in battle, and had to request reinforcements. The Sheana with their golems and golden tattoos fought like none the Fairfolk had ever dealt with, and with reinforcements from the other Clans they were able to keep the tide of “elves” (a commonly used racial slur for Sidhe) at bay. Within the first decade of the year, the Sheana knew this conflict would end no time soon, and Jackrabbit renamed itself to “Clan Faebane”, a name which came to strike fear into any fairfolk who lived near the border, and invoke respect in any Clan who heard it. For just short of 2 centuries the war raged on, until a new Matron took charge of Faebane, Matron Jaydenn Aztlyn, who had spoken with Prince Dae’avel Somnia and convinced him of the war’s pointlessness. By the time she took power, Empress Brea was killed near the end of the Third Era and Dae'avel became Emperor, leading to the two newly crowned sovereigns agreeing to end the conflict. As part of the arrangement, Faebane became Jackrabbit again.